


A Canary in a Coal Mine

by KeeningThoughts



Category: Grand Theft Auto V, Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Canary AU, Grimdark, Horror, Magic, Music, Tinnitus, mental health mention, mild body horror, puking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:14:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23485882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeeningThoughts/pseuds/KeeningThoughts
Summary: Jeremy has been struggling with tinnitus for weeks... Until it's not just ringings but music in his ears. And the world around them is changed irrevocably when that music isn't just in his ears anymore... But in the air around them.A grimdark horror take on a magic/supernatural fahc au.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **If I've missed a tag that you think this should have, and especially trigger warnings, please let me know and I'll add it right away!**

Jeremy's holding their position, waiting for Nice Dynamite to finish in the vault while they keep watch. But their vision is going a little blurry at the edges, and that fucking sound is back. Tinnitus the doctor had said, prescribed pain killers and some specific antidepressants (that the doc had said could help the tinnitus but would also help their other mental health issues). They had downed two of the painkillers before they set out earlier... they shouldn't be wearing off already.

A hand on their shoulder startles them. They turn to see Michael's mouth moving, telling them something. They’re not sure what though, the ringing a little too loud and distracting. They shake their head at Michael, having never been great at lip reading they have no idea what Michael’s just said to them.

"I can't hear you." They tell him, gesturing to their head. Michael nods, understanding on his face. He says something into his headset. Mimes and points for Jeremy, to explain they're done in the vault. Then gestures to the front of the building. They’re heading out. Jeremy follows as Michael leads, Gavin taking the rear to help protect Jeremy, who wouldn't know if someone were to come up behind them right now.

As they step into the main room, Jack glances over with a nod to them, sending Jeremy a look of concern beneath the mask covering half her face. Geoff waves them over, Michael and Gavin reaching Geoff before realizing Jeremy's stopped only a few steps into the main room.

The sounds came back, louder than it was before and underscored by soft music. Music Jeremy has never heard aloud but remembers the tune of... Music they’ve been hearing snippets of in the ringing in their ears for months.

There's a crescendo in their personal symphony.

They’re on their knees, clutching their head, blood seeping from their ears and nose. The team packs up quickly. Michael throws Jeremy over his shoulder as they hustle out to Jack's waiting vehicle. Jeremy softly cries into Michaels's back. It's absolute pandemonium outside, car alarms blaring and sirens wailing.

Before they can get into Jack's machine, they all hear the sweet music, the same tune Jeremy had heard moments before in the lobby of the bank. They feel a shockwave that knocks them all to their knees. Jeremy’s shins slam into the concrete as Michael cradles them.

Pandemonium turns into a nightmare. The silence is loud, the music swelling to fill the quiet. A quick look around, kneeling now in front of Michael, reveals that all the vehicles around them are suddenly off, sirens and alarms dead. Street lights have blown out, shop windows are dim. The electronics store on the corner is completely out, not even a flickering on one of the old tube TVs in the window...

Michael nudges Jeremy up. The whole crew standing awkwardly around, guns at the ready. Jack climbs out of her customary driver seat, rounding the vehicle to join the others.

“Why aren’t they shooting?” Michael all but whispers in the hush. Jeremy hears it, barely with the music still so loud. They wonder to themself if the others can hear it… It’s just so loud.

A wet crunch sounds out from between the police cruisers on the other side of the square. The crew turns as one towards the sound to stare in horror at the misshapen body of what was once one of the officers… One of the other officers is crying, pressed against the door to a cruiser. He’s younger, early 20s at Jeremy’s guess, and still fully human. He has his gun up, arms shaking as he sobs in fear as the creature turns towards him.

Dull clicking rings out, adding to the song… a desolate sound as the music seems to darken. Maybe his gun is jammed. Jeremy looks away as the thing descends upon the poor man, only to see more of the fucking things. Some still clearly humanoid. Others a mishmash of human and… other parts.

Michael raises his rifle to shoot at the closest one as several turn towards their little group. Only to hear a similar clicking. Michael curses as he tries to unjam his gun. Curses more violently, confused and scared.

“The gun isn’t jammed...” He whispers.

Gavin turns towards him, terrified and jittery before raising his own to try. They all frantically try to shoot, all their guns failing to fire. The mechanics and gunpowder refusing to work the way they’re designed. All the while the things are stalking towards the group. 

“What the fuck!?” Geoff splutters, stumbling back towards Jack, who steadies him with a hand at his elbow. Michael reaches past Jeremy to pull Gavin towards them, away from the advancing creatures. Jeremy follows his lead, tugging on Gavin’s shirt, too.

“We need to go. Now.” Michael pushes Gavin, then Jeremy ahead of him. Jeremy stumbles as they retreat down an alley. Geoff takes charge again, leading the way. Jack taking up the rear. Guns are holstered, melee weapons passed out… Before they thought them excessive, Gavin going so far as to call them an obscene amount when Michael had armed himself with a bat. Now they’re nothing but thankful, their guns reduced to blunt weapons.

Geoff pukes in a back alley several streets away from the bank. The misshapen forms of several officers laying in the road they just vacated. Viscera and gore covering the group.

They make quick time, doing their best to avoid the carnage on the streets. Ignoring pedestrians caught by the creatures… Not all are police officers. Many seem to have once been regular citizens, other gang members, even some first responders… They make their way south, towards one of Matt’s safehouses. Eventually, the group tumbles through the back door, locking up tight behind them.

Relatively safe, licking and tending to their wounds, they attempt to regroup.

“What the FUCK was that?!” Geoff all but shrieks, voice breaking. Several people clap back at once.

“A goddamned nightmare, is what it was!”

“Fucking bullshit!”

“What the bloody hell happened to them…” This last one is Gavin, confused and scared. Sitting between Geoff and Michael.

Jack is quiet, watching Jeremy wincing at the noise. The music has dulled some, but the migraine that’s taken its place is easily aggravated by the yelling.

“I’d like to know,” Jack starts much quieter than the others, wiping her hands and arms with a damp towel, trying to get the worst of the dirt and blood smeared there off. “Where the fucking music is coming from. Considering our phones are dead…”

And Jeremy supposes that answers their question. They can hear it, too.

“I wasn’t sure you could hear it…” They mumbled, nearly slurring several of the words together. But the others get the gist of it. “The tinnitus…” They begin and falter, unsure how to explain. But it’s clearly enough for her to understand.

“That’s why you were bleeding earlier, isn’t it?” Jack hums to herself in thought a moment while the others try to follow her logic leap. “It happened just before we got to the car…” She trails off again, unsure how to discuss what happened soon after.

Jeremy makes an agreeing sound. They don’t really understand it, confused already when the horrors had started.

“So, Jeremy heard it first?” Michael isn’t trying to be loud, but his voice is grating, making Jeremy wince again. Gavin notices this time, getting up with purpose and retrieving a glass of water and some pain killers. Jeremy accepts them gratefully.

Jeremy’s fuzzy, half asleep in their seat while the others work together to make sure all the entrances are locked. Gavin’s thinking aloud softly, suggesting this cause and that. Eventually, he gives up trying to figure it out. They don’t notice the music quieting and hushing.

“It’s stopped.” Jeremy mumbles half asleep, moments before the fridge begins to hum and the air-con turns on suddenly.

Gavin’s phone makes noise in his pocket as it reboots. They begin checking their devices. And Michael shoots a pistol at the ceiling, startling the entire group. Jeremy gags suddenly, groggily rushing their way to the bathroom to puke, the noise aggravating the migraine too much to bear.

When they return, the others are sitting in the living room. They quiet as they enter and make their way back to the loveseat where they had been resting.

“You noticed the music had stopped… And then electricity came back.” Gavin points out, softly. Jeremy can’t follow his train of thought. “You’re the canary in the coal mine.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE

The first chapter has been completely edited. I've struggled with the energy to deal with it, but as of now RH is completely edited out of this work and will not be mentioned again.

I'm working on my second chapter now and should be out today or tomorrow. Further than that, I'm working on plot since it needs to be completely rewritten.

If you're interested in updates, my twitter (@keeningthoughts) is your best bet.


	3. Chapter 3

It's a rough first night. Jack elects to take first watch, sitting on the couch while Jeremy dozes on the loveseat. Jack goes to tuck Gavin and Michael into one of the rooms. The two wrapping around each other like puppies on top of the blankets to video call with Meg and Lindsay. Checking in, making sure their partners are safe amidst… whatever the fuck is going on.

"Wake me for the next watch." Geoff tells her quietly when she returns to urge the tired man up and herding him towards the second bedroom. Geoff gives a sleepy wave and a mumbled good night just before the door shuts.

Jeremy is quiet while Jack goes to get a washcloth and a fresh glass of water for him. They'd gotten back, Jeremy had puked, and dried blood was still smeared on their jaw and neck, under their nose and on their chin… Jack returns and Jeremy thanks her quietly, taking the cloth and cleaning themself.

The night is quiet then and Jeremy dozes. There's far off sounds, creatures still roaming the streets. An aborted shriek rings out several hours later, startling Jeremy from sleep. They look to see Jack tiredly peering out between the boards over the windows in the living room.

"Nothing nearby." She whispers. Jeremy's sitting up, watching her over the back of the loveseat. "Go back to sleep." Jeremy listens, settling back down, trusting Jack to watch out for them. Jack folds into one of the mismatched chairs and dozes lightly against the back of the cushions the remainder of the night.

Over the next couple days, it's slow and seemingly relaxed. The music does come back. But never as long as that first time, only for a few hours at a time. When it's up, Jeremy struggles to pay attention and especially when they're all together, struggles to even hear past it. Gavin takes to writing out the basics of conversations for them on a whiteboard. It's barely a solution, but it's a work in progress.

While the music was down, seemingly gone after that first time, Geoff had made the executive decision to call the entire crew together. They congregated in the penthouse, that is until the second time the music hits...

With so many people so close by, it hits Jeremy hard. Jack is discussing logistics with Geoff and Michael, while Jeremy is describing the music and differences for an overly curious Gavin across the room when it hits. Jeremy doesn't drop like the last time, but when Jack glances over at him, he has blood seeping from his ears and nose again.

“Oh, Lil’ J, we can’t have more nosebleeds so soon!” Gavin coos and fusses over them, the first to spring into action, yet clearly not understanding that the music is back. Jeremy is barely paying attention, a glazed over look on their face.

Thinking back, Jack feels they’re lucky it was mid-day and there was plenty of natural light. Gavin doesn’t seem to grasp that when the music is up, technology doesn’t work. Or if, miracle of miracles, a simple machine does work, it doesn’t always work right. Gavin shows the best aptitude for finagling electronics into doing his bidding (which is honestly par for the course for him, Jack thinks).

“We already tricked rocks into thinking, Jack. How hard can it be to get the kettle going?” He singsongs as he flits about the kitchen, sitting Jeremy down at the table. Jack doesn’t comment, but does think about how Gavin might get it running, considering even the wall sockets seem to lack electricity (not that he or any of the others had tried to test it with a fork… Yet. Though they clearly needed to keep a closer eye on Science Gavin).

Confusingly, Gavin does get the damned kettle going. Happily makes Jeremy a “lovely tea” with milk and a little bit of sugar. Jeremy hums a quiet thanks and sips at it. The group as a whole whisper softly to avoid aggravating the migraine the music brings them.

They learn quickly after that that the penthouse isn't the best home base when the music comes and goes seemingly at random. Before all this, Geoff had allowed Gavin to program and wire the whole place. Everything was electronic, automated, or used the little app Gavin had programmed on their phones… including opening the goddamned doors. So they got locked in a lot those first couple days.

After some debate, they agreed to use a handful of safe houses as satellite spots while they prepared that old bunker Geoff had bought a few years ago and hadn't gotten around to doing much with (it was glorified storage with some room for… less pleasant Fake work).

Heist Prep changes drastically in the first week. They have to account for the monsters roaming the streets, the other gangs, and the civilians just trying to survive in this new landscape...

"I'm splitting you fuckers up!" Geoff declares, thumping down on a worn sofa in one of Michael's bolt holes days after the bank heist and the emergence of music. "We’ve got too much shit we need before those fuckers on by the docks pilfer it all." Teams of twos or threes. Smaller to better avoid the roaming packs of monsters, he explains. Ultimately Michael, Jeremy, and Matt get paired.

"You said it first, Michael. Lil' J is our canary. You two work great together and shit." Privately, Geoff had explained that he wanted him to play babysitter while Jeremy was struggling with the magic. Michael was best at hand-to-hand, they did work well together, and Matt could be counted on to get all the shit they needed despite this being a softball assignment.

"You don't need to baby me…" Jeremy mutters to him as they’re unlocking the door to one of his bolt holes downtown several hours later. Matt raises an eyebrow at them but doesn’t comment.

"I wouldn't say we’re babying you... Buuut, you could use the softball job. Even you have to admit that, Jere." He's locking up behind them and leading Jeremy into the dingy kitchenette.

"Okay, fine…" Jeremy grumbles back. "But, why a library? Of all the places to hit… I just don't get it."

"Whatever the world is now, it's vastly different. And doesn't look like it's getting fixed any time soon. So we need to be self sufficient." Matt begins to explain. They'd talked this over with Geoff, Jack, and Trevor in the heist meeting.

"How're books gonna help us?" Jeremy nearly whines, pouting. Michael rolls his eyes as he begins preparing grilled cheese sandwiches for their dinner. Easy, usually a long shelf life (although with the music killing electronics, bread can't be frozen anymore), and the music was down right now, meaning that the stove worked… Or worked well enough, considering this was one of his cheaper apartments.

"None of us know more than the basics for agriculture. Jack had that garden, but she never grew enough to be able to feed all of us. We need to learn more. And if this is long term, like Geoff seems to think, we'll want to know some medical basics and herbs." Matt shrugs plopping into one of the battered kitchen chairs while Michael plating a sandwich and placing it in front of Jeremy. Jeremy gets up to get the ketchup and a few sodas.

There were a lot of book subjects Michael had on the mental list. Gardening and agriculture, medical texts, home hardware and DIY... But also books for leisure like the Lord of the Rings books (a favourite of Geoffs), Stephen King, those books from that HBO show with the dragons… Maybe even Harry Potter.

They traded idle chatter about what might be happening over their light dinner.

"I mean. It can't be some sort of biological warfare." Michael is saying, gesturing with a half eaten triangle of cheesy bread. "If it was just the monsters, I could buy that. But the music!"

"Don't remind me!" Jeremy groans, crumbs spraying out and catching in their facial hair. "It's like. Fucked up magic or some shit, right?" Matt takes a moment to finish chewing before he answers.

"Like. Old faery tales about life and death and such having music to them and only the faery knew how to sing it?" They're all quiet as they think it over.

"Is that a jab at my ears being a bit pointy?" Jeremy finally asks, trying and failing to keep their face straight. They dissolve into laughter, Jeremy making silly jokes about faeries and gay tropes while they clean up dinner. "Or is it because I'm a little… Flamboyant. With the Rimmy Tim persona?" They grin over their shoulder as they shelf a dried plate.

"What, should I start calling you Tink?" Michael’s grinning back as Jeremy sputters indignantly.

"Not Jared? I bet I can pull off the David Bowie bulge!" They grins at Michael, swiveling their hips. Matt turns back to washing the dishes in the sink with a shake of his head.

"He's the Goblin King, not the Faery King… Although he certainly acts like a traditional Faery was said to… and also, isn't it Jareth?" Matt throws in.

"Rich coming from you, Mr. Dumbass!" Grumbles Jeremy. "Besides, I haven't actually seen the movie." Michael's mock gasps of horror has Jeremy dissolving into laughter again.

"Clearly we have to watch it then!" Michael declares, drying his hands and going to fish out an honest to god VHS tape and dusty old VHS player. Jeremy pretends to choke on the dust, while they continue to bicker back and forth as Michael sets up the ancient technology.

"Why do you still have a VHS player, Michael?" He asks as they're settling onto the lumpy couch to watch.

"They're all cheap as hell and who's gonna steal it if they break in while I'm not here?" Officially a movie night at the end of the world, Michael produces snacks and more soda cans. And about twenty minutes later, Jeremy is snoring softly, drooling on Matt’s shoulder.

Sometime after the movie ends, and the player rewinds automatically, Jeremy stirs as the music returns. It’s quiet, it’s always quieter when there’s only a couple people around. They’ve noticed that depending on who’s in the room with them changes the exact sounds that the music makes.

Matt seems to emanate a deep, soothing music. Like water bubbling in a creek and soft wind chimes, the tide coming in soothing and calm. It reminds Jeremy of any time they have to use a submersible for a job.

The music soothing Jeremy back to sleep as Michael enters the living room from the short hallway leading to the one bedroom. He urges the two up off the couch to go into the bedroom, sleep in the actual bed. Piling three men into a queen bed is… Annoying at best, but they make it work. And before long, Matt is softly snoring while Michael grumbles on Jeremy’s other side as they slip into sleep again.


End file.
